Gathers dreams of a football career

WACO — At 6-feet-8 inches tall and 270 pounds, Baylor power forward Rico Gathers has the kind of size and athleticism that has made coaches drool.

And not just basketball coaches either.

Gathers said that he’s imagined a football career if his burgeoning basketball career with the Bears doesn’t play out like he wants.

“It gets hard when I look in the mirror and see myself on the court,” Gathers said. “I’m an aggressive individual. Maybe I should be playing some football.”

Gathers was the No. 1 basketball recruit in Louisiana during his senior season at Riverside Academy in Laplace, La., choosing the Bears over St. John’s.

After playing football in middle school, football coaches in his area saw Gathers’ size and wanted him to try football.

“It was a big controversy in my area,” Gathers said. “Every high school football coach wanted me to come to their school. And when I decided to come to a school that didn’t play (football), it was like ‘Dang, why would you do that.’”

It became a moot point after he chose Riverside, which didn’t even have a football program. His basketball skills were obvious as Gathers was a two-time Gatorade Louisiana High School Player of the Year, averaging 22 points and 17 rebounds in a senior season where he led his team to the state championship.

“I was comfortable with my choice,” said Gathers, whose father, Richard, is a cousin of the late Loyola Marymount All-American Hank Gathers. “I knew I wanted to be a basketball player from the jump.”

Gathers has become a serviceable reserve in his sophomore season this year, averaging 7.3 points and 7.2 rebounds. His opportunity for more playing time next year should mushroom with Cory Jefferson’s graduation.

Numerous football players have made the switch to football after their college basketball careers ended. Tony Gonzalez was a power forward at California who developed into an All-Pro tight end who one day will likely be a first-ballot Hall of Fame nomination.

Baylor coach Art Briles convinced former Gonzaga point guard Demetri Goodson to join the Bears football team. Goodson became a starting cornerback and is expected to be selected in the upcoming draft.

It’s not hard to see Gathers as a contributing member of a football team because of his athleticism. Would it be a shock to see him develop into a pass-rushing defensive end or a tight end?

Gathers has seen some of the success that basketball players have found after starting their football careers. It makes him favor basketball, but not completely rule out trying football one day.

“Nah, because we’re talking about millions of dollars,” Gathers said, chuckling. “If it ever came down to it and basketball didn’t work out, I wouldn’t mind trying for football.”

His story reminds me of my days covering the World League of American Football back in the day. The league had an innovative idea called “Operation Discovery,” with the stated aims of exposing world-class athletes from foreign countries to American football.

There were track stars, wrestlers, boxers and soccer players. The San Antonio Riders franchise had three Swedish players in former hammer throwers Stefan Bjorkman and Stefan Ohrvall and boxer John Hyllienmark along with a Mexican soccer player Marco Rueda.

The foreign players provided some comic relief for the team as none of them panned out as football players. The last I heard about Hyllienmark was that he had become a music impresario back home in Stockholm.

“The Operation Discovery” plan was run by former Denver Broncos and Stanford coach John Ralston, who combed the world looking for potential football players for the league. Ralston told the toughest part was getting athletes from other sports accustomed to the physicality of football.

“Those hammer throws are big, tough guys,” Ralston said, shaking his head. “But you don’t know about them until they get on the field. The hammer never hit them back.”

Watching Gathers battle in the paint for position and rebounds makes me think that he won’t have much trouble transitioning to football if he should ever choose to switch sports.